


save what has been lost (bring back what once was mine)

by scientificapricot



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: 5x11 canon divergence, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, because damn did they deserve some happiness this season, canonical and TEMPORARY major character death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:40:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27982434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scientificapricot/pseuds/scientificapricot
Summary: A Tangled-esque alternate ending to 5x11, in which Emma’s magic puts its foot down.
Relationships: Captain Hook | Killian Jones/Emma Swan
Comments: 17
Kudos: 58





	save what has been lost (bring back what once was mine)

**Author's Note:**

> I found this idea in my docs last night, started thinking about it again, and wrote it this afternoon with minimal editing, so I apologize for any mistakes. It's also a product of my recent Tangled rewatch, which is of course where I got the idea and the title from. Hope you like it!

The worst part was that she caught him when he fell, because she could _feel_ the life leave him as he met the ground. She could feel a part of her die with him.

But still she caught him, because it was _Killian_ and she would always catch him even if he was—

He was. 

It wasn’t fair. Even though Emma, more than most people, knew how unfair and cruel life was, a part of her still raged in protest against it all because _it wasn’t fair_. 

It wasn’t fair because she was certain that no one’s heart felt and loved as deeply, as wholly, as his, and a heart like that should get to live. 

Perhaps her heart had once been able to, but it was shattering and he wasn’t there to coax it back together. 

A heavy stone in her chest pulled her down with him, until her legs were crumpled under her and her face was buried in the crook of his neck. And it was wrong and she hated it because he wasn’t moving, but she couldn’t let him go. She couldn’t leave him alone. He was hers, she was his, they were _it_ for each other. 

The weight of her grief pressed against her lungs, forcing out sobs, and her eyes, forcing out tears. Her magic pulsed against the confines of her body, aching to be released, to get to him, and it was all Emma could do to reign it in as she cried. It had been smothered by the darkness for far too long, and had built up so much that she was sure if she released it the impact would be meteoric. 

She buried her hand in Killian’s hair, because he was still her anchor and her magic had always responded to him best. 

All she could do was hold him and sob. 

Her tears met his skin, landing against the curve of his cheek and over his heart. Emma reached up to wipe them away as if it still mattered, sure that she was imagining the soft glow emitting from them until they sank into his body and disappeared. 

A brighter glow bloomed in her peripheral vision, and it took all of her strength to sit up, her hands still cradling his head and gripping his jacket. The light... it was coming from _him._ But... no, the tugging in her gut said it was coming from her. And yet it was _his_ wounds, the slice on his neck and the hole in his chest, that were glowing, shining, so bright that it was hard to see anything else. Emma stared at the white and gold magic, tightening her hold on Killian, afraid that it too would somehow take what was left of him from her. 

The magic grew in its intensity, swirling around her with a heat that should have burned and a force that should have knocked her down but it didn’t. Distantly she could hear her family crying out in shock and calling for her, but she couldn’t look away. Graceful tendrils rose up and brushed against her face, drying her tears, though her eyes were still left red and swollen. The magic, the light, it was _familiar_ , like she knew it, because, she realized, it was _hers_. It had found a way out anyway and it… it was… 

Quietly, the glow faded, leaving Killian still prone before her on the ground. Her throat closed up as she looked at him, and—

Wait. 

His neck.

There was nothing there but unbroken skin. 

With effort Emma wrenched her gaze to his chest, to the horrible wound where she—

There wasn’t any wound there. 

Even his shirt was undamaged. 

Something beautiful and dangerous rose within her that felt a lot like hope, accelerating and causing her limbs to tremble as color returned to Killian’s skin. 

His chest rose underneath her hand as a soft inhale and exhale ended with his eyes opening. 

The shattered pieces of her heart were slowly being drawn back together by the familiar shade of blue. 

His gaze rested fleetingly on the stars above them, before seeking out hers with a tiny frown that marred his awed expression. 

“Emma?” he breathed out, a crack in his voice that seemed to echo inside of her. 

New tears welled up as she whispered his name, and she felt his head shift where it was still being supported by her hand. “ _Killian_.”

His hand reached up, brushing against the ends of her hair before landing on the red leather covering her arm. 

He smiled. 

“Have I ever told you how much I love this jacket?”

And just like that, the spell of disbelief that had been holding them still broke as Emma sobbed out a laugh and fell against him, pressing against the warmth of his body as he sat up and only scrambling to hold tighter. She felt the curve of his hook against her hip bone, the strength of his arms as they wrapped around her back, the tickle on her collarbone as he buried his face in the junction between her shoulder and neck. 

Their tears mixed with their joy, and she was sure they must be glowing or _something_ because she had only ever felt this much happiness once before when she’d broken Henry’s sleeping curse. 

They pulled back just enough so that their foreheads were touching, and she gently wiped away the tears in Killian’s face even as more took their place. She wasn’t sure who surged forward first, but then she was kissing him and his lips were moving against hers, warm and damp and spelling out the same love and devotion they always had. 

Footsteps in the grass next to them pulled their attention away from one another, and there was her family, with beaming smiles on their faces and tears of their own. It took but a moment for Henry to surge forward, landing roughly on his knees next to them and nearly knocking them over with the force of his hug. Both Emma and Killian somehow managed to extract an arm to wrap around him and pull him in closer. 

The strength of Emma’s smile was starting to hurt at the corners of her mouth, but it didn’t bother her as she looked up at her parents, Regina and Robin standing there and smiling behind them. 

“Mom. Dad,” she choked out, almost too overwhelmed to speak because the darkness was _gone_.

Killian was alive _._

She was free.

It was finally _over._

Snow’s valiant attempt to hold back a sob failed as she said, “Oh, _Emma_.” She and David sank down to join the three of them in what had to have been the messiest hug Emma had ever been a part of. 

She didn’t care. 

The darkness was gone.

Killian was alive. 

They were _free_. 


End file.
